Hell And Back
by Anachronistic
Summary: AU. Seishiro is getting restless in Hell and decides he wants a pet, setting his sights on Subaru. Hokuto's bad mood plagues Tokyo City, which distances Kamui from Fuuma. Everyone seeks a solution in Karen's love potions and that can only mean chaos.


[Hell And Back] [_Author's note_]  
  
An allusion is a reference to history, mythology, literature, or the Bible. There are many many allusions in this story, which I will make you figure out on your own. One clue I will give you is to focus on ancient Greek mythology. If you don't have a working knowledge of mythology then that's not really a problem. You can understand this story just fine without figuring out the allusions.  
  
Seishiro is very easy to figure out even if you've never read a Greek myth in your life. Seeing Hercules (copyright Disney) would provide you with sufficient knowledge to figure it out.  
  
Kotori, Hinoto and Kanoe are rather easy to figure out, too. Another one of those things Hercules (copyright Disney) taught us.  
  
In order to figure out Fuuma and Kamui, it's important to consider where they live. I made a big deal about it for a reason.  
  
Hokuto is a little harder to figure out but not impossible. You probably won't get this one if your knowledge of Greek mythology doesn't stem past Disney movies. You should be able to narrow it down to two people in the first chapter, but you're sure to get it eventually.  
  
Subaru is probably my toughest one so far. I can promise you this, if you figure out Seishiro and Hokuto, it'll make Subaru a lot more obvious.  
  
Well, I'm looking forward to see what you'll make of this. ^_^ I'll say you're good if you get them all.  
  
Also, a word to the avid mythology enthusiasts, I'm not sticking to the script. I'm taking incompatible stuff out and adding plot twists in so it will not necessarily be true to the original story. Call it a hell of a creative license. 

. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . .   
  


  
[**Chapter I**][Autumn In Tokyo City]  
  
There were two things that undeniably kept Hokuto happy: her brother and shopping, so it goes without saying that shopping with her brother made for the best of all worlds. Subaru often acquiesced to the shopping center inflicted torture because he had realized that when his sister is happy, Tokyo city seems to be happy as well. While this may seem to be a conclusion gathered from some imaginative thinking, there were eerie facts to support it. The birds, for one thing, sang sweeter when she smiled, when she was excited the sky got a little clearer, and when she was content everything just seemed to grow. On the other hand, it seemed to Subaru that whenever his sister got upset, things would have a tendency to die. Flowers, for example, withered instantly before him. Birds would drop from the trees, and the grass paled. It only stormed when Hokuto was sad; therefore, it was by every means a very wonderful thing that she was almost never sad or upset at all. This made Tokyo city very happy as well.  
  
"Subaru!" Hokuto had her face glued to the window of a shop displaying a large "sale" sign. "You have to try this on!"  
  
Subaru stood behind his sister and contemplated the garment in question. It was very much like his usual attire, except very white. "You know, white isn't really my color."  
  
Hokuto pouted. "It's the winter fashion! It's supposed to look like snow. You don't want to be unseasonable, do you?"  
  
"But autumn has just begun," Subaru protested, "and we never have snow here anyway."  
  
"You have to think ahead. I, for one, already have my winter wardrobe set. Why must you be so difficult?" Hokuto frowned at him.  
  
Clouds suddenly seemed to engulf the sky, and somewhere at the other end of the city, Kamui passed out from the overwhelming rise in humidity. Subaru's eyes widened, and he gulped. "Ok, I'll try it on."  
  
"Yay!" Hokuto clapped her hands and pulled her brother into the shop by his arm. The sky instantly cleared, and Kamui started feeling a bit better.  
  
Subaru, being the sacrificial philanthropist of the century, went shopping with his sister for the greater good of the world.  
  
~  
  
Meanwhile, Seishiro sat in Hell, feeling a very uneasy sensation creep upon him. It was the sort of sensation one would get if he were to, say, leave the house for a meeting and keep thinking that he left something important back home the whole way. It was the sensation of missing. But Seishiro hadn't left home forgetting something important. In fact, he hadn't even left home at all. He tapped his fingers on the armrests of his throne.  
  
Seishiro had a throne. He rather liked it despite its drab appearance because it went with the general decor of Hell. He sat, and he tapped. Sat. Tapped. Tap. Tap. Tap. Sigh.  
  
This was turning out to be a very long and tedious day for Seishiro. Then again, in Hell a day is eternity as much as eternity is a day, but that was his idea and he stuck by it to the end. He yawned. Tap. Tap. Tap.  
  
Souls came and went as they do everyday. That is, they came; no one ever really went, per se. It was just business as usual in Hell, but Seishiro wasn't quite his usual self. He felt bored and anxious, and even the idea of creating a personalized torture world for some damned soul didn't bring his spirits up. Tap. Tap. Tap. Sigh.  
  
After some time of sitting, tapping and sighing, Seishiro realized what exactly the problem was: Hell had become boring. Same old miserable souls flowing down the River every minute of the infinite day, same old moaning and begging and suffering. He wanted something a little different, a little purer, a little less dead perhaps, and so Seishiro resolved to pay a visit to the mortal world that day. He pulled out his extra-dark sunglasses and smirked at the prospect of a new adventure.  
  
~  
  
Karen walked back up the stairs to her boudoir in her red and pink lingerie. She suddenly realized that a great many of the things surrounding her had French names, but she didn't dwell on that too long as she got distracted by a feeling of deja vu upon reaching her destination. She closed the door and went to stand in front of the mirror.  
  
"A good night's work," she sighed as if she had just finished baking cookies. She found her favorite hairclip, one in the shape of two interlocked hearts with a flame in the middle, and pulled her hair up with it, locking it into place. She stepped over to her closet and took out the dress she came wearing and pulled it over her head. It flowed down to fit perfectly around her body.  
  
Karen glanced over at the mirror once again and, approving of her reflection, moved on to find the things she had brought with her: her bag, her red high heals, and a large, elaborately inscribed tome. "The Book" was its proper name, and it served her greatly in many situations. She tossed it into her bag and fixed the high heals onto her feet. With that, she turned off the lights and walked out of the room.  
  
~  
  
Fuuma lived on the top floor of a very high skyscraper. This building stretched so high up that it was not altogether unlikely for him to step out onto the balcony one morning and find himself completely surrounded by clouds. This appeared entirely reasonable to the whole world. Everyone accepted this without question as a very ordinary place for him to live, except for Kamui. Kamui got nosebleeds at high altitudes. The reason that Fuuma lived on the top floor of a very high skyscraper is because it just felt natural for him to place himself as high above the common world as possible, and also, since no one does anything for only one reason, because Kotori was deathly afraid of heights since she almost died climbing a tree as a little kid.  
  
Don't let it be said that Fuuma didn't love his sister because that would be an altogether wrong assumption. War is war.  
  
The apartment was very elaborate and must've cost at least a whole fortune, if not two. The main entrance was of Olympic proportions, and the bedrooms, although not quite as large, had very deific qualities to them. The hallow hallways often echoed footsteps of any approaching guests, whom were few and far between because it was certainly a great task to walk all those stairs.  
  
Kamui lay stretched out on the bed in the main bedroom. The large windows were all open to let some air in as he wasn't feeling well. Consequently, the clouds that gathered during Subaru's momentary dispute with Hokuto had floated into the room a little at a time and created a very heavenly atmosphere. This made Kamui feel rather lightheaded.  
  
"Where did all these clouds come from? It was clear just a moment ago." Fuuma stepped into the room and chased all the uncomfortable weather back out the window.  
  
"I don't know." Kamui allowed himself to sit up in bed. "They just kind of appeared, and I had to lie down."  
  
Fuuma sat down next to him and, with all the genuine concern in the world, gently took his hand. "Are you feeling better now?"  
  
"Yes, much." Kamui nodded and smiled slightly.  
  
"Good!" Without very much warning at all, Fuuma pounced on top of him and pinned him back down to the bed.  
  
~  
  
Kotori, Hinoto and Kanoe sat, in that particular order, in Infinity. Since perpetuity, they've been weaving blankets, shawls, sweaters, mittens, socks, and anything else that strikes their fancy.  
  
"The Devil is tired of his lonely existence." Kotori sat in front of a spindle, which they used only when a very elaborate tapestry was in demand. The knitting needles she most often used were idle on her lap as her fingers swept through the string on the spindle. "Companionship for him will come with great resistance."  
  
Hinoto pulled the woven string from the spindle and wrapped it around her hand. "His determination will surely cause much pain." She pulled the tape measure down from around her neck and set to measuring the string.  
  
"One day soon, Tokyo City will drown in rain," Kanoe finished for her. She picked up the heavy scissors resting on her lap and snipped a long, gray string handed to her by Hinoto. Somewhere in the finite world, a body fell; in Hell, Seishiro's assistant added another mark to her tally chart.  
  



End file.
